For the 15th time, officials denied parole for Sirhan Sirhan

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Sirhan Sirhan, now 71, was found guilty of shooting to death then-presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy in 1968




After the assassination, Sirhan said he did it for his country, Palestine




Since then he has claimed that he doesn't remember the events of that day

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Sirhan Sirhan during a parole hearing Wednesday at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego

 

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Commissioners concluded Sirhan (seen next to his attorney William Pepper) did not show adequate remorse or understand the enormity of his crime

For the 15th time, officials denied parole for Sirhan Sirhan (seen left in 1973 and right this week), the assassin of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy



He said he recalled being in the hotel then going to his car and returning after realizing he had too much to drink. He said he became interested in a female and they drank coffee in a hotel pantry.
'It's all vague now,' Sirhan told the parole panel. 'I'm sure you all have it in your records, I can't deny it or confirm it, I just wish this whole thing had never taken place.'
Sirhan, a native of Jerusalem, listened intently during most of the hearing, turning testy when commissioners pressed him on his memory. He said he felt remorse for any crime victim but added that he couldn't take responsibility for the shooting.
'If you want a confession, I can't make it now,' Sirhan said. 'Legally speaking, I'm not guilty of anything ... It's not that I'm making light of it. I'm responsible for being there.'
Sirhan said incriminating statements he made at trial were the result of an ineffective defense attorney who pressured him into thinking he was guilty.

 

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Sirhan was found guilty of shooting dead then-presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy in June 1968. Kennedy pictured above laying on the floor as a worker at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles attends to him

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Sen. Robert Kennedy is seen on a stretcher following the shooting at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles

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This June 1968 file photo shows Sirhan Sirhan, right, with his attorney Russell E. Parsons in Los Angeles

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Sen. Robert F Kennedy was shot in the Ambassador Hotel's kitchen pantry (pictured in a file photo)

 

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Sirhan listened intently during most of the hearing, turning testy when commissioners pressed him on his memory. He said he felt remorse for any crime victim but added that he couldn't take responsibility

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Sirhan Sirhan, second from left in blue, reaches to shake the hand of victim Paul Schrade, second from right, at the end of a parole hearing

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But Sirhan Sirhan was restrained by a guard while trying to shake Schrade's hand on Wednesday






Sirhan is serving a life sentence that was commuted from death when the California Supreme Court briefly outlawed capital punishment in 1972.

 

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In one of many emotional outbursts during his 1969 trial, Sirhan blurted out that he had committed the crime with 20 years of malice aforethought.
That and his declaration when arrested, 'I did it for my country,' were his only relevant comments before he said he didn't remember shooting Kennedy.




Sirhan told the panel Wednesday that if released, he hoped he would be deported to Jordan or live with his brother in Pasadena, California.
His hope, he said, was 'just to live out my life peacefully, in harmony with my fellow man'.
'This is such a traumatic experience, it's a horrendous experience that for me to keep dwelling on it is harmful to me,' Sirhan said.



Sirhan was born in British-ruled Jerusalem and is a strong opponent of Israel. In 1989, he told David Frost, "My only connection with Robert Kennedy was his sole support of Israel and his deliberate attempt to send those 50 bombers to Israel to obviously do harm to the Palestinians." Some scholars believe that the assassination was the first major incident of political violence in the United States stemming from the Arab–Israeli conflict in the Middle East.

 

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Robert F. Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles June 5,1968 moments before he was shot in the head at close range by Sirhan Sirhan.

 

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Here the Senator is seen campaigning in Indiana during the presidential primary

 

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Final moments: Eppridge took this famous photograph of Robert Kennedy sprawled semi-conscious in his own blood after being shot in his brain and neck while busboy Juan Romero sits next to him in the kitchen

 

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Close: Jack and Bobby (seen here with their brother Ted, right) worked together as Bobby was the President's Attorney General and continued the post after his death

 

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Beautiful moment: Eppridge took this picture of Bobby Kennedy and his dog, Freckles, running on beach

 

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Close: Jack and Bobby (seen here with their brother Ted, right) worked together as Bobby was the President's Attorney General and continued the post after his death

 

[ScottL]

On the morning of June 6th 1968 there was a light tap on my bedroom door. It was time to wake up for school. My Dad opened the door quietly and I still remember his exact words. "Scott, Senator Kennedy died." I was 8. I didn't know anything aboout Israel yet. And I don't even know why I loved RFK so much. But I did. I don't remember anything about the rest of that day. But my Dad, who in 2 weeks will be gone 4 years, I can still hear his words. And I remember crying into my pillow for a few minutes before getting up. The terrorist assassin will rot, as he should.